After being humiliated for being “too dark” to be ‘queen of Carnaval’, actress Nayara Justino redeems her career in novela set in slavery era

Note from BW of Brazil: The story Nayara Justino speaks so much about the race/color factor in Brazil. In a land where people like to pretend that differences along lines of race, color and physical characteristics don’t matter because they’re “all equal”, it would be difficult to deny that her dark skin color was at least one of, (if not) THE contributing factors to her being removed from her post as perhaps the most representative images of the coming of Carnaval, the Globeleza girl. We’ve followed Nayara’s career through the ups (winning the reality show style contest to be named the Globeleza), the downs (the brutal racist insults leading to the loss of the position) and the tribulations (a bout with depression). Justino’s story led to a feature and short documentary in the British journal The Guardian and apparently two more upcoming international stories.

With her role in a Record TV novela based in the slave era, Justino has rebounded well and hopes to take advantage of her return to the spotlight on another major TV network. As we mentioned in a previous post, her return can’t necessarily be see as a complete triumph as it is perhaps her dark skin that led to her being cast as a slave and thus continuing the Brazilian media’s desire to keep Afro-Brazilians in the places that the society as a whole continues to reserve for them. After all, as we’ve seen in past posts, it is expected that black Brazilian women be/portray maids and Carnaval dancers, but not necessarily ballerinas, weather girls or senators. We wish Nayara all the best in her future endeavors although Brazil’s media most definitely doesn’t have a good track record in its acceptance and portrayal of darker-skinned women. 

“I brought good ratings and proved that I know how to act,” says former Globeleza of the Escrava Mãe novela

By Sandro Nascimento

The novela Escrava Mãe has managed to change Nayara Justino’s career. Bound to be the eternal “former Globeleza” she earned artistic redemption with her acting debut in the drama that inaugurated the new range of novelas of Record on May 31. With positive repercussions and now confident, Nayara seeks new roles on TV.

“It gave me a lot of confidence to continue to study and pursue new projects. To be recognized by the public and critics in my first job was special. The whole cast, writers, production and direction of the station are to be congratulated for the great novela.  Escrava Mãe is changing my life,” said Nayara Justino, who is completing a documentary for television stations in France and Germany about the Brazilian woman.

Earlier this month, in an interview with the Gugu program, Nayara sparked controversy by saying that she felt used by Globo TV when she was the representative of the Carnival on the station. “In a moment of emotion in the interview I used a very strong word. It does not express all my feelings. I am very grateful and proud to have been Globeleza. But I was a very young girl, totally green in this environment and suffered a lot of pressure. We all learn from errors and move forward,” she said in an interview with this columnist.

About criticizing Globo, the actress says she doesn’t fear retaliation: “We live in a democratic country and I fight for my ideals I hope they have saw it as constructive criticism. Today I am a woman of opinion. I don’t want to be more of the same. I am courageous, I brought IBOPE (TV ratings) and proved that I know how to act. So why not have the doors open?”

With the success of her participation in Escrava Mãe in the role of Luena, the grandmother of Isaura the slave, Nayara Justino reveals that she wishes to continue in the profession and seeks interesting projects to showcase her talent:. “Theater and film are also my passions I want to tell stories and deliver good results to whoever believes in my work.”

But despite investing in a new career as an actress, the former Globeleza rejects leaving Carnival to her past history. “I am passionate about samba and have the affection of many people in the realm. While experiencing it I loved Carnival,” she cried.

Source: Natelinha